Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Position Reduced by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 394,071 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 13,033 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $44,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.5% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 114,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,032,000 after buying an additional 18,711 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $806,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,837 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,716,000 after purchasing an additional 8,044 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $115.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $200.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $96.20 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.